


A Letter to Any Soldier

by debbystitches



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:28:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23961538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debbystitches/pseuds/debbystitches
Summary: Jason helps Brock's family with a threat
Relationships: Brock Reynolds - Relationship, Jason Hayes/ Original Character
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Another Day in Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> forgive me for playing with Jason's heart again. He's my favorite.
> 
> I was a soldiers wife. I know the feelings that go with deployments both good and bad. I however no nothing about warfare and maneuvers so I made most of it up. All the mistakes are mine alone. 
> 
> I do know about Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Stress in soldiers and their families. Along with family struggles with a soldier that is always in deployment mode or suffering from losing his purpose after his military career is over. The therapies and all related mistakes are mine, I am not a professional.

She hadn’t written a “To Any Soldier” letter since she was younger. She would get extra credit in her government classes for each letter she turned in. Now she was the instructor at a small community college and offered the same extra credit for real letters. She had reached out to a cousin to connect her students with pen pals. She also had the understanding with Brock that if he found out there were bad letters to the soldiers she would be told. Jason had taken one letter from Brock’s stack. The hate spewing from the student bothered Jason and he went back to Brock about the letter. “Soliel said she would handle any students that send these letters. Basically since she’s a psychology professor she will try to get them the help they need before the writer gets out of hand.” Jason left it in Brock’s hands. He was shook up though. The writer was an idealistic young man. He could have been Emma, Mikey or even Clay. 

Brock used his computer time that night to talk to Soliel. “Hey cuz, here’s what I have for you today.” He sent her a picture of the signature and return address of the letter plus the letter. She thanked him and asked about things. I’m fine he said. We’re going to be okay. We should be coming home in a few weeks. Should I come see you when I get home?” Brock never sugar coated his life with his cousin. She had lost a husband in combat. She had seen combat herself. “You should go see your parents first then we’ll get together.” 

Soliel took her copies of the letter off the printer and gasp. The writer was her favorite student. Soliel never thought this would come out of that young woman. Soliel sent the student an email. “come see me in the morning.” But the girl didn’t come to school the next day and Spring break happened. Then Covid 19 shut down the school. Soliel kept trying to reach the student until the Safe at Home community action took over. 

Soliel’s days didn’t really change that much. She traded emails with students and staff. She held office hours via video chat programs. She made sure her sons were keeping up with their work and sewed masks. Her ex husband would come by once or twice a week dropping off things for her and the boys. He was an essential worker delivering durable medical equipment. 

When her cousin came home Soliel welcomed him via video. He was subject to the lockdown in Virginia. She shared what she knew about his parents and they talked about the letter. “Brock, I haven’t been able to get in touch with this student and I’m not allowed to reach out to his parents about his assignments. I have tried a few work arounds to reach out to his parents and friends, but he’s withdrawn from everyone as far as I can tell.” Things are opening up here and I’m going to drive over to see him next Wednesday when I’m free. “Strap up.” Was how Brock ended the call. “You know it.” She answered.

Brock got a call from Soliel Wednesday night. “I found him. He had to be taken to the local hospital for a psych eval. His family knows how bad it had gotten for him.” She shared pictures of the boy’s apartment. “He had pictures of my kids, me and my ex on his wall.” In the back ground of the call Brock could hear Clapton sing “Cocaine” That wasn’t a good sign. “Okay Cuz, I want you to make sure you’re using your precautions and wearing your weapon at all times.” “I am” she answered. Brock went to command and put in for extended leave. He caught Jason there at the same time. “Gotta go see my boy.” “Enjoy your break.” The men actually followed each other across the south sharing motel room expenses. When Brock broke off to head to Tulsa, Jason followed him. Brock called Jason on his cell, “What’s up?” “I have a bad feeling.” Brock learned a long time ago to follow Jason’s instincts, he wasn’t Bravo One for nothing. 

Brock pulled up in front of the house his mother had grown up in. His cousin, Soliel was standing in the front yard arguing with her ex. “Oh hell” Brock said out loud. Jason pulled up behind him rolled down his window and stayed in his truck. “Money?, MONEY?!?! Is that all you care about? You have it all as it is. I have the house because the judge said you couldn’t have it after all and you want me to pay you to move your crap out? You got all you were going to get in the settlement and today was the deadline. Anything you left after noon is mine to do with as I please.” Soliel lifted her chin at Brock in greeting as he exited his vehicle. James looked over his shoulder. “You called your cousin?” “No, I knew he was coming to visit but I didn’t know he would come by here especially today.” “Listen Sunshine, I just need a little help right now.” Soliel responded without raising her voice this time. “I paid for your house. I paid for your car. I bought your mom a car and I paid for the new kitchen and bathrooms. I don’t owe one more cent now it’s time you left.” The quiet calm almost felt deadly Brock felt a shift in his cousin’s demeanor as she put her hand on her waist. Brock saw James swallow and shrink back. He looked like a weasel slinking back to his work van across the street. 

Brock signaled Jason to join them as the ex drove away. Jason walked up to the tall woman. She was a heavy woman but looked so good to Jason. She was standing barefooted in the driveway of her home with a tank top on and a pair of cut off shorts. Daisy Duke, length cut off shorts. She had curves all over. Thick thighs and wide hips showed off her waist but she had a round abdomen of a woman that had kids and no time to work out all day to “get back into shape” When she lifted her arms to take the hair off her neck Jason saw the grip of a pistol tucked against her right hip inside the waist band of those tight shorts. He startled a little and Brock caught the motion. “Concealed carry is legal in Oklahoma so don’t tick any one off while you’re here.” Cuz, this is Master Chief Jason Hayes. Jason this is my cousin, Captain Soliel Levee, US Army.” “Retired” Soliel added as she stuck out her hand to shake. Jason looked at this soft woman and scoffed at the thought that she had been a captain much less old enough to have retired. Then he looked at the scar on her right knee. That explains it. 

“What are you drinking?” Soliel asked as she pushed her cousin toward the house. He walked in and Jason followed him. Brock walked across the great room to the fridge and pulled two beers from the a shelf he lifted one at Jason who nodded. Soliel moved to the cabinet past the fridge and pulled down a tall bottle with a silvery label. She pulled down three shot glasses then hip bumped Brock as she passed him. She sat at the long table that took up most of the floor space in the great room. Brock sat across from her and pushed a chair out for Jason. Soliel poured tequila shots and left two lined in the middle of the table. She drank the third then poured another. “Geesh ma,” a young woman said as she came out of a room attached to the great room. “Did dad upset you that much?” Jason noticed how the woman’s breasts heaved as she inhaled deeply before sighing a “yeaah” That sigh looked like it would pop one of those lovely breasts out for display. Jason thought, “I think I would like to see that” but he felt Brock watching him. “Jersey, this is the cousin I talk about so much, Brock. Brock this is my daughter in law Jersey she’s married to Jose. Jersey this is Brock’s friend, teammate, Jason.” “Aunt Jane’s boy?” “yeah can’t you tell, I’m as good looking as Uncle Tony.” “Uncle Tony is only good looking when he’s dressed.” Brock looked confused. “your dad has taken to dressing more like me only he sticks to boxers and undershirts. Aunt Jane refuses to drive him anywhere and he claims his balls stick to the seat in his truck.” Brock hung his head in shame. Jason busted out laughing. At the noise a giant stuck his head out the door Jersey had used. “Ma, I’m trying to get the boys to sleep in here.” Rolling her eyes Soliel told him they were not going to be quiet. Those babies need to get used to noise. Turn on the vacuum cleaner to drown us out.” Jason saw the same eyeroll as a hand snaked out to pull Jersey back into the other room. 

“Natural Quads. Poor Jersey is going to look like me forever. At least they weren’t as big as their daddy.” Brock laughed. “I used to tease her about the watermelon she was smuggling.” Jason smiled as he tipped his beer bottle up to his lips. “Soliel, tell me about the boy.” “he’s still in the hospital and from there he will have to go to a special hospital for mentally ill inmates.” “His apartment was scary. There were schedules for the buses around the campus, pictures and time sheets for Jose and Jack. A floor plan of the delivery floor of the hospital Jersey had chosen to deliver in. There were shots of my house, the house James and his family live in. The apartment Jose and Jack shared before Jersey came back from visiting her parents. The construction site for their house. As far as I can tell he missed this place.”


	2. Country Road Take Me Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the sun also rises

Soliel moved from the table after talking about her student. She opened an oven behind Brock and removed two lasagnas. Jason watched Brocks face change. Nostalgia and hunger warred in the man’s eyes. “Oh Cuz, you know just how to welcome a guy home.” “Well I was going to take these to your parents to reheat when you rolled in but you can have them fresh.” She pushed him in under the table a little more and opened another oven. Two more lasagnas came out. “These you can take to your parents for tomorrow.” “It’s so good to be home.” Brock gruffly sighed. Jason had to admit he thought the house smelled awesome when he stepped inside but the smells from those pans made his mouth water. Knowing this woman could cook made something stir in his gut. Feelings? Hell no, couldn’t be but those shorts and the glimpse down Soliel’s top when she bent over the oven door. Jason heard a soft growl come from his own throat.  
Brock heard it too. He cocked an eyebrow at his team leader. Jason had met his match if he ever thought about trying to get with Soliel. Jon Bon Jovi’s “Justice in a Barrel” came from Soliel’s back pocket just then. Jason smiled at the old song. Suddenly the house seemed to explode with noise as feet came pounding down the stair case outside the great room and two doors opened. Teen age boys came from everywhere. “Maybe not…” Soliel said as she said, “Levee” into the phone. The noise stopped and the foot steps became quiet as 10 young men calmly sat at the table with Brock and Jason. Soliel moved toward the front porch with her call. The crowd remained quiet though to listen. “I don’t care what he had to say in an email to you. Chi is not going to do this to me weeks after the deal was done. He got the price he wanted now he’s going to deliver or I’m going to take him to court and he’ll lose the profit he just made. He’ll pay me to take delivery when I’m done. Love you too Mack.” She returned to her seat ending the call. “Mack?” Brock asked “Yeah you remember my best friend Mack. She’s my lawyer. She does it all for me now. I keep her so busy she doesn’t have time for anyone but other family.” “And Chi?” “My builder. He switched out my bluestone pavers for dyed concrete and thinks he can get by with it.” Jason let his opinion of this woman evolve while watching her interplay with the kids at the table. “Someone get the chairs and extra leaves.” Brock said instead of commenting on the builder. Jason could tell he had an opinion. 

Two of the 10 young me were hers. Each came with 4 friends on a regular basis. When the meal was cleared from the table, cookies were pulled from cabinets and cards were passed between the youngsters. A rowdy game of poker began. Soliel, pointed toward the back door and Brock lead Jason out to a shaded patio secluded from the street with lilac and other shrubs. Jason took the beer Brock handed him again. “Tell me what else is going on Cuz?” “James is being an ass. He wanted the house but since it belongs to my family he couldn’t take it. So he wants to still claim his place by leaving his stuff behind. Each day he stops by with one excuse or another about picking up something or bringing goodies. He is just making sure that there isn’t another guy here. Jimmy is in a back brace now as you could see. His spine twisted when he started growing last summer. I discovered it around Christmas. I’m just sick about it. Jack stopped going to college classes, which makes me mad. Jersey and Jose and the Quad’s are here but I don’t know if it’s really safe for them to be. When I finally finished the house in Jennings, is when James decided he wanted a divorce and that house. I got some bad news yesterday Buddy.” Brock shifted in his seat leaning toward his cousin. “The cancer?” he asked. The beautiful woman dropped her chin to her chest and Jason watched a large tear run down her nose and drop from the tip into her lap. He swallowed hard. Brock reached out to his cousin. “I’ll do what I can.” “Thank you, there’s nothing you can do.” “Yes there is. I’ll bank blood for you again this time.” It all came out from the woman, then. Ovarian cancer with lymph node involvement, removal and chemo. Jason thought of Alana then, Soliel’s boys were older but they could be without a mom soon. Jason tried to excuse himself from the conversation but Brock wouldn’t allow him to leave. “Whoa Hoss, you have had too much to drink to leave.” Jason tried to pull rank on his team mate but he realized he was screwed as soon as he noticed his keys sitting in Soliel’s lap. “How the hell did that happen?” He wasn’t brave enough to reach for them. 

The trio sat out in the darkening space for another few hours drinking more after Jersey came to collect the keys. They talked like old soldiers comparing bases, deployments and other parts of their lives. Jason realized the woman had buried two husbands both from battlefield wounds. He shook his head when he heard of her third wedding and the storm that followed them from Tulsa to California. He laughed about the childhood stories of the only girl in a family full of boys. “That’s why you went to OCS, you were going to boss men around for a change.” “yeah but I raised boys too.” Jason enjoyed listening to the conversation and contributing when he felt like it. There was no pressure to talk, make decisions or excuses. 

Brock lead Jason to an apartment over the garage after midnight. After being in the strange bed for a couple of hours Jason came back down the outside steps to find Soliel sitting on the patio with a cooler filled with beer and water at her feet. She offered him a bottle of each. “What has you up this late?” Jason asked. “possibilities” she answered. Jason listened to the old music softly playing on her cell phone. “What kind of possibilities?” Jason prompted. “Things that could have happened, things that didn’t happen the way they were supposed to, things that won’t happen now, mixed with regret and flashbacks” Jason nodded. “I know how that feels.” He started talking. He talked about losing Nate, Alana and Adam. He talked about watching Ray fall apart and seeing his family splinter. He talked about strange women and his latest break up. When he was done he could feel tears rolling down his face. 

“Do you think Jason Hayes and Bravo One are friends?” Jason had never thought of it like that. He couldn’t really comprehend the idea of two different people inside himself, but his gut knew she was right. “No I don’t think they are. The operator has a mission and getting laid isn’t part of that. Jason wants to forget life and responsibilities for the moment and just chill.” “but Bravo One keeps sneaking in right?” Jason stopped talking then. The two watched the sun come up over the lilac. They watched life move on as they stayed in one place. When the house was quiet again, Jason followed her into her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies to those who read the chapter before I realized I killed of Trent not Nate. It's fixed now.


	3. Witchy Woman

Jason and Soliel did not sleep. The didn’t have sex either. They lay in her bed holding each other. Jason didn’t realize how much he needed this. It didn’t make sense. Why would he need to be held. He was Bravo 1. A Teir One operator. He was tough as nails and ate steel wool for breakfast. But so was she. Okay? Jason lay there thinking about what he felt around him. She was heavy. There was a layer of fat over the muscle she maintained. She had a double chin, chubby cheeks, thick thighs and no sign of a flat abdomen. She wasn’t soft but she was comfortable. At this point in time Jason was in the crook of her arm. Her upper arm was strong but padded enough he couldn’t feel cords of muscle. Soliel was awake. She was turned slightly toward him so one of her breasts was laying on his chest. His chin was on the other one. She managed to run both of her hands through his hair. He loved it. He felt like he could almost purr. 

Again his thoughts turned back to being tough and how tough she was. She raised 3 boys on her own after her third husband was killed in combat. That was the second husband she lost to combat. To be brave enough to do it again? Then she had talked about her father, the Ranger. She talked about her stepdad the Marine and her three tunnel rat uncles. Of course she was going to be military. Her only drawback was her gender and even pregnancy didn’t slow her down according to Brock. Jason suspected she could have even survived BUDS training. Although there would be some messy times if she had tried. Jason tried to figure out how that would work. “If a woman took only the hormonal pills in her pack or was on the right implant or shot she could eliminate that one problem.” Soliel said out loud. “But getting to take her pills on time everyday would be the problem.” She read his thoughts? “It was the way you were moving, touching me. It was like you were assessing me as a good Bite Dog candidate. Plus I’ve had the conversation a few times with Brock and he just texted me asking if that had come up.” Jason laughed. He really laughed. He hadn’t really felt like laughing in years. Had he ever felt this with Alana? Natalie, Mandy? No. How did this happen? Was Jason getting soft?   
Brock heard the laughter from his cousin’s bedroom as he cooked brunch. It’s her he thought. She is a healer. She had healed Jason. That was the woman’s superpower. She could do a thousand other things but she heard it from her men and women the most. She could take a raw recruit, a skittish foal, a pissed off alley-cat and calm them down. Her boys were the same way. They were quiet and calm. They all got stone-like silent when they were upset. When Soliel got quiet, people could feel the “OH FUCK” in the air and ran for cover. The time her first husband had tried to hit her, her brother-in-law said he felt the whole house freeze over. “I heard her use that calm soothing voice to lure him in then she laid him out flat.” Brock had seen her do it to a couple of suicide bombers too. She talked them right out of their vests and into handcuffs. She was an asset the military refused to lose so they found her a place in the VA and when she was tired of working in one area, she had the choice of working in another. “Soup’s on” Brock called. 

Jason almost looked like he was doing the walk of shame when he opened the door. Brock looked at his team leader and said, “Don’t man, I know how she is. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, no matter what. You good?” Jason stood up more and moving his joints, he said “Yeah.” He smiled and chuckled “I am so good.” Nothing more needed to be said. Brock and Jason ate while Soliel sat at the table drinking tea and planning her day. “Jason? Will you be heading to your mom’s today?” “I hadn’t thought about it.” He answered. “You should head out soon or you won’t be able to go, there’s a storm coming. It’s going to be bad.” Jason looked at Brock. “She’s a witch, man, I swear it.” He responded to the look. “I am not a witch, medicine woman or spirit talker, Brock Reynolds, and you know it.” She said quietly. “She’s a gift from God, is what our grandparents always said.” Brock went on. Jason could see that, an angel, prophet or saint.


	4. Whole Lotta Shaking Going On

Jason didn’t make it out of town. He hesitated just 10 minutes too long. He was sitting at the stop sign to before getting on Highway 412 when the hail started, and his windshield was shattered. He hit the redial on his phone to call Brock. Brock and Soliel brought a tow truck and a tarp to rescue him. His poor truck was trashed. Jason sat in the back seat of the tow truck with his head in his hands. What was he going to do now? Brock said he had an idea when he read the look on Jason’s face. The trio took shelter in the house after pushing Jason’s truck under the carport. The winds picked up and the tornado sirens went off just as soon as they were settling down in the living room. Brock helped grabbing the quadruplets and carrying them downstairs into the storm shelter. Jason carried the cat carrier and Soliel led the dogs to their kennels. The boys tuned the radio to the best station to hear the weather then settled into bunks for the wait.   
The family heard the house shaking and creaking above them when the all clear was given for their area they ventured out into the battered house. The roof was damaged, but the rest of the place seemed to be okay. There were little things knocked off walls and shelves but not much. Jason shook his head in amazement. I have never been in a tornado he said to no one. After checking the other buildings around the house they began to check on neighbors. Jason and Brock put on some of their gear and walked the neighbor hood clearing doors and putting up plywood for those who couldn’t. When they returned that night Brock left to check on his parents. Jason asked for an available shower. Soliel pointed him to her bathroom and the soaker tub if he was interested. When he emerged feeling clean and revived he asked about staying over a few more nights. Soliel agreed but told him if he wanted his own space she would understand. After beers and sunset watching, Jason did climb the stairs to the apartment over the garage but once again the fears and memories drove him out of the bed and into the night air. He found Soliel there once more. Jason thought of Mandy, “would she approve of this?” As far as Jason could tell it was just an itch they scratched together but Soliel might not see it that way, much less Mandy. Walked around to the front of the house to make a call. 

Mandy didn’t answer when Jason called her but she texted that she was on assignment. “I have a question.” He texted back. She called, “Jason it better be a good question.” She started. He said, “How serious are you about the two of us being, well, being a couple.” “You know I don’t approve of long distance relationships” Mandy answered. Jason thought about this. She was right, he never knew where he would be and she wasn’t permanently attached to Bravo Team. Jason hadn’t seen her more than twice since they returned from their 3 months. She had stayed behind then. “I appreciate you taking my call. Mandy, you’re a great friend. Stay safe.” He ended the call and walked back to the patio and Soliel.   
Soliel looked Jason over as he strutted to the patio. “You looked like the devil was chasing you before you went around the house but now you seem to be stepping lighter.” Jason looked at her with a sly smile. “I’ve been weighing my options.” “Did you determine anything?” “I want to stay an operator as long as I can but I don’t think I can do it the same way. I don’t want to go back to the way I was. I want to be whole not two warring wolves.” Soliel knew the reference; the two wolves were an old tale. The stronger wolf was the one you fed more often, feeding the bad wolf with bad actions and good with being a nice person. “You think Bravo One feeds the bad wolf?” Jason really thought about it. He was the tip of the spear not the one hurtling the spear at the enemy. Doing his duty, following orders could be good things. Saving hostages. “I know what you are thinking, Jason. Yes, in the eyes of those that have been there, you were not feeding the bad wolf. If anything, you were training them both to be bite dogs. So where did your bad wolf get his strength?” She continued, “When you were home were you really being so horrible that you fed the bad wolf? Or were you stuck in Bravo mode and couldn’t reset into lover boy that easily? Do you really think that it’s supposed to be a switch you flip? It wasn’t for me. I brought the job home with me, my husbands did too. The kids, they learned that hypervigilant and just hyper mom was an okay person to be with. The other people, the other adults didn’t understand that though.” “Did you take a lot of flak?” he interrupted. “Not really, the community we were in, they understood. They stepped in and my family well they lived with surly veterans that used the war as a good reason to be different.”   
“But that’s not how most families are.” Jason said again. “I know and learning how to come back from that isn’t something we teach anyone. Especially those that are deployed to a war zone.” Soliel took it from there. “There are people who suffer more. Like killing 59 people in my career. One of them a boy no more than 10 who had been strapped into a suicide vest and carried his younger brother to camp. I had helped deliver the young brother. I knew the poor little man, the baby and his mother. He was able to hand the baby over to a guard then stood there calling for me. When EOD approached him in their gear, the boy was remotely triggered. I know I didn’t actually kill him, but I had defiled his house by not fully covering my hair while delivering Jimmy and his mother, number 58 was beheaded for it. It ended my career. My knee was hit by stray shrapnel, the replacement made me sick, the next replacement was better but by then I was pregnant with Rose. I took the medical discharge then I retreated with my family to the middle of Pawnee County. My second husband was killed in combat not long after. I broke even further. When my Rose died, I almost went with her. We both had cancer. You count the costs in your head, day after day. You see the faces, hear their heartbeats.” “Footsteps, a friend told me.” Jason cut in. “You incorporate them into your day to day life eventually but sometimes, sometimes you have to be reminded. Suicide is not an option. Repeat it day after day, minute by minute, agonizing breath by agonizing breath.” She stopped talking then. She wiped away tears. Jason just sat there feeling the same things. 

She was sick Jason remembered. She was facing another life threatening fight and she seemed strong. Jason’s mind flashed back to the letter. The letter and the young man that had brought Jason to this place. Once again she held him through their sleep in the daylight. He realized this was how she coped. She kept night watch then slept when the noise of daily life would keep her safe in her head. He knew that was not an option for him and it had been something he was also looking for in his tiny apartment. 

Sitting at the table with the hoard of young people, Brock, Soliel and the babies, Jason thought about going on to see Mikey. He told his team mate and friend, he was going to drive through the night. So before bed they helped him load Brock’s SUV with Jason’s stuff and waved farewell. Soliel handed him a cd before he left. “To Sleep” he read on the label. He thanked her before putting a chaste kiss on her cheek. She retreated from the vehicle and into Brock’s arms. They waved until they couldn’t see the tail lights any more. “Cuz, I think you worked some magic on Jason.” “I think he actually worked his own magic.” She answered.


	5. Small Town Girl

As Jason enjoyed his leave with his son and his mom, he thought about Soliel often but knew her life in Oklahoma wouldn’t mesh with his in the teams. He did write her text messages three times a day to check in. She would usually reply promptly but one day her reply was by phone call. It wasn’t her calling; Brock broke the news that she had been attacked after a chemo appointment. Jason was back in Oklahoma in a flash. He sped into the parking area of Soliel’s house and slammed the SUV in park quickly before leaving the vehicle. He saw the damage of the attack on the screened front porch and fence “What the hell happened?” He swore at the kids working on cleaning up the mess. Brock swung out the front door. “I brought her home from the appointment let her out at the front gate in Jersey’s care then took the car down the hill to park in lot behind the house. Jersey noticed the kids from down the block riding 4 wheelers in the road when one crashed the fence and run into Soliel and Jersey. Backing out the attacker got hooked up on the concrete planter pulled forward and clipped the corner of the porch before driving through this patch of garden and out the driveway gates. Jersey pulled Soliel out of the way then was clipped by the wheels. She has a busted leg. Soleil is fine. Pissed but fine.” “And the driver?” “He was caught on the next block over by a sheriff’s deputy that was responding to the kids riding in the streets. It was her student. He managed to get out of the hospital and get home. His parents didn’t know he was home until they found their truck and trailer with the ATV gone.” “What are they going to do about it?” “He’s going back to the hospital.” “Will they keep a better eye on him?” “I don’t know Jas,”

There was something Jason could do. He pulled out his phone. Past the folder with 40 dead people were the retired people Jason knew. He started making calls. In 2 hours, Jason had created a list of 6 men and women who could get away to help out. In 24 hours, he had a team, scarred and damaged former Navy personnel sat at the big table talking about things like they were in the briefing room for Bravo Team. “David, I want you to lead the first watch, teams of 2, eight-hour shifts. Do what you can to keep track of her kids and their friends.” Jason laid pictures of each kid with details out on the table for everyone to look over. He had pictures of cars and trucks, schedules and lists. Brock laughed at him but never let Jason see the chuckles or smile. “There will be 4 more people coming in 4 days. Brock and I must get back to Virginia Beach. Soliel was a captain in the Army so she will be a total pain in the ass but just get her back and forth to the appointment and the health care workers will do the rest.” Jason laid another group of folders on the table. They were jackets on the healthcare workers. Soliel had made these to keep out where her family could call someone or knew who was coming and why. Brock hugged his weakened cousin good-bye three days before they needed to be back on base. Jason hugged her too then dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “You promise to stay safe?” Jason asked. Brock looked at the tough SEAL. Did my boss just go gooey over my cousin? Jason leaned down to whisper something to Soliel and she smiled. They left with Brock asking, “What did you say to her?” Jason laughed “I promised her I would bring her some fresh seafood when I came back.” “Yeah right.” Brock responded then climbed into the SUV while Jason got into his newly repaired truck. 

14 weeks later, chemo was over but Soliel still had her hair. It was thinner and shaggy, but she was happy to avoid the plastic coverings that would pair with her vanity. Jason made a quick trip to see her. He was happy to see she seemed well but weak. He had one day to check on his new team of personal security. Over the weeks he had arranged for people to rotate in and out to eliminate a long-term assignment. Soliel to his surprise had paid each person for their time. He added up the money that took and thought, if I got 20% on top of that, I could probably make a go of this. A business? Jason shook his head. He looked over journals left behind by the guardians. He noticed that each mentioned sessions of talks with Soliel and resolutions to live better by the end of the rotations. Soliel was resting on the back patio when Jason woke her. He had come to say good-bye but she stopped him. “Find me more people like your friends. Find me the ones that need to learn how to be again. I’m not teaching this semester. Jersey and Jose have taken the babies to New York to be with her family. Tell the people you send my way I still need security if you have to lie to them but get them out here.” “You can’t afford to pay these people to guard you while you play therapist.” “How do you know?” Jason looked stunned.  
“Jason,” she started. “I have lost two husbands both with large life insurance policies. My parents are both gone and I’m an only child. My father’s family owned racing barns. My mother’s people were in lumber before oil. Jason, my ex, the one you met on your first day here, his family makes guns. What I’m trying to say is my portfolio makes Bill Gates look like a poor man. If I wanted to build a VA style hospital and fund the care and research, I could fund the program with out taking money from the government, insurance or patients for the next 450 years.” Jason was stunned. The house she lived in was worth about 100 thousand dollars. She could have the biggest house in D.C. with gates and such. Why did she live here? He asked Brock when he returned. “She lives there because her kids are still in school and she didn’t want to move them out of the district. She owns a big house too but it’s far out and her kids hate it. You know what? Every kid in my family can go to any college of their choice because of her. My mom has money too but not like she has. She invested well in the last 20 years. It’s amazing. She has even invested in the European kennels that breed our working dogs and has funded replacement dogs when the money couldn’t be found in the defense budget.” Brock called Cerberus to him and went out to the kennel on base. Jason noticed the equipment Brock used had a sun emblem on it. Looking at the kennel they took on deployments it said “SunRise K9 Products” Soliel Levee, that meant something like rising sun in French he thought. 

Jason called Soliel that night. She asked about his sleep and his eating. “I’m fine, Soliel but I have some questions.” “I’m not going to answer those questions, Jason. You know all you need to know.” Jason tried to push but she refused. “Okay then tell me about the new guards you have.” She filled him in on the last batch of people he had steered her way. “I think you are doing a great thing here.” She thanked him. “Jason, I’m coming to Virginia for 6 weeks in next month.” “I would like to see you while you are here.” He said quietly. “I can make that happen.” She replied. Bravo Team was spun up for an extended assignment in Europe two weeks before she was supposed to arrive. Jason called and video chatted with Soliel each evening when he could. “I met Mandy yesterday.” Soliel said one day. Jason swallowed hard. “Yeah, what did you two talk about?” She smiled at him then the transmission was cut.


	6. Body Art and Stripper Costumes

Jason tried to get back in touch with Soliel, but the Wi-Fi wasn’t working. He took his headphones off his head then heard rounds being fired. Grabbing his gear, he hopped into the things he could reach before sneaking low out of his room. Emerging in the center courtyard of the building they had commandeered, he looked at the others laying behind sandbags and other round suppression objects looking over to the north west. Jason took cover by Clay as an RPG landed in the courtyard of their current barracks. The Northwest corner of the building had been destroyed years before and fencing had been strung between the upright supports of the structure to keep people out of the courtyard. The nearby corridors and rooms had been closed off with cement blocks and the windows were bricked in. The only way to gain sightlines for anyone shooting or hurling other things over the fencing was from the ground or the roof. Command had deemed the roof too dangerous when they moved in. 

Bravo Team were just a group of sitting ducks in the courtyard, so Jason sent the order to retreat into the building and exfil to a location a few blocks over. From there they would try to move in on the troublemakers. Sonny disagreed, “To make it look like we’re still here to take fire we need to keep something moving in this courtyard.” Jason asked for an example. Sonny pointed to the fans that were under the balconies of the 2nd floor. Industrial sized they moved a lot of air. Pulling his poncho from it’s compartment Sonny placed it over a bush then low crawled to the closest fan. He turned the fan toward the bush and the movement immediately drew fire from outside the fence. Jason raised one eyebrow, rolled his eyes and said go ahead. Ponchos and extra shirts, socks and trousers decorated bushes and small trees within 5 minutes in another 2 minutes fans were animating the fake team. Grenades and bullets were turning laundry into swiss cheese in the next minute while Bravo left the building. 

Moving two blocks up and three blocks over they managed to eliminate the guards on the first floor of the enemy strong hold. Another few minutes, eliminated the next floor and then explosives brought down the heavy hitters on the roof. Walking away from the crumpling building Havoc ordered them the fall back to an alternate location and wait. The team watched carefully as they took their remaining transports to the rendezvous. Joined by a team of Marines and another of Rangers, they returned to their former digs and retrieved their belongings and other equipment. The leaders of each team gave Jason hell for leaving his laundry behind to be shot up. Jason said it was Texas ingenuity and the whole compliment of soldiers laughed heartily. Sonny was stubborn enough to gather the tattered garments from the courtyard. “For a new team flag.” He said. “For a blanket for Cerberus” Trent responded. Sonny stuffed it all in a large garbage bag and insisted on taking it back to the secondary location. When Blackburn saw the stack of rags on Sonny’s bed, he asked who Sonny “was going to get to sew the holes up?” Sonny said he had stitched enough tears in his own clothes that he could pretty much make a brand-new garment by hand. The whole team laughed at him but Davis listening from the hallway thought, maybe this would keep him away from the strippers for a night or two. 

Arriving back in Virginia Beach the team finally made their ways back to their homes or rooms. Jason called Soliel. “Are you where you can meet me?” he asked when he told her he was back in town. She sighed and said no. She was at a spa with some new girlfriends. He suggested dinner and she agreed if the place served greasy burgers and onion rings with hard liquor. Jason thought about it and suggested a place in the next town over. “I’ll have some friends with me.” she said before saying goodbye. Jason used the phone link in his truck to call Sonny, Trent and Brock. Brock already knew and was planning to go. Trent and Sonny agreed too. Sonny called Lisa to see if she wanted to join, Lisa told Eric then checked with her new love interest in the CIA. 

Jason arrived 10 minutes early so he could get a few tables pushed together. He ordered pitchers of beer and baskets of onion rings. Then sat back to wait. When Mandy walked through the door, he got nervous. Following Mandy was Natalie and Soliel. Jason nearly hyperventilated. His hand started shaking and his foot started jumping. Mandy and Natalie planted friendly kisses on Jason’s cheeks before Soliel patted him on the back and sat down beside him. Jason’s ex-lovers sat a chair away from the two and Soliel leaned into Jason’s ear. “I’m sorry. I know you feel like you have been ambushed.” Then she laid her hand on Jason’s thigh. For long moments Jason stopped knowing how to speak, breathe and think. All he could focus on was the feel of Soliel’s hand on his leg. His body responded to the touch like a horny teenager. When Brock broke the tension by pulling his cousin up for a hug, Jason inhaled so deeply the whole table looked at him. “You okay there Jas?” Trent asked. Sonny who had clocked the body contact between his team leader and the new gal, laughed. He stopped when Lisa and her new beau walked in with two women that were awful familiar to Sonny. 

It was Sonny’s turn to vapor lock when he put together who the new gals were. They were headliners in two of the clubs Sonny liked to frequent. They took places on either side of Soliel and Jason. Jason had put his arm on the back of Soliel’s chair but never looked past the edge the table in front of him so he wouldn’t lock eyes with Natalie and Mandy. Two men in scrubs came in to join the tables and the crew discovered they needed to pull in more chairs and another table. The scrubs slid chairs between a stripper and Natalie and the other between the other stripper and Mandy. Jason was not sure if he wanted to be jealous. He was relieved when he could raise his eyes high enough to locate food and pitchers without seeing his exes in the line of sight. After a few minutes Mandy and her date split off and left. Within 10 more minutes Natalie took her date to a table behind Jason. Trent and Brock moved over to have better conversation with Soliel’s guests. Another two redheads came in to sit with the crew making 4 women Sonny knew by their stage names. Introductions were made one final time, as Soliel said, guys meet my sorority sisters. This is Catherine, Daniela, Sasha, and Emily. Sonny opened his mouth to add something about their professions and Soliel shot him a warning look. Jason caught the exchange then hid his smile behind his beer mug. 

“My sister’s and I have been sewing for the last week.” Soliel announced. “S-ss-sewing?” Sonny asked. “Yeah,” Emily answered, each year we have a quilting retreat near one of our homes. Most of the time we go to Oklahoma because it’s not fair to make So-so come out to the mid Atlantic 4 years in a row.” “and she has the better set up than we do.” Sasha purred. Sonny instantly shifted in his seat at that sultry voice. Lisa watched him zone in on the woman. “You all sew?” Trent asked. “Honey, in our line of work we have to keep our clothes in top condition” Daniela said in a southern drawl that curled Trent’s toes. Catherine was the one that finally said, “Sometimes we have to make our own wardrobes for the clubs.” Brock put it together then. He remembered when Soleil had mentioned her 4 friends taking up dancing instead because their degrees were unemployable. “So-so, here is a great designer. I can’t tell you how many years I’ve spent my vacation with her updating my routines.” Sonny was gaining a new respect for the former Army Captain. He shook his head thinking about all the ways he had seen the clothes on those 4 beauties disappear. Sonny could help but wonder how a set of BDU’s could be modified to reveal and conceal. When he licked his lips then bit down on the lower one Lisa caught his eye and he reddened. Two by two new friends coupled up to dance. Jason asked Soliel but she gave him puppy dog eyes and said her knee was bothering her. 

Jason asked about her knee. “Catherine’s dog got over excited and knocked me on my ass this morning.” Jason tried not to laugh. Soliel smiled. “You can laugh because when I was at Emily’s, the office chair she put me in dumped me the nigh before.” Jason couldn’t resist, “So it’s not your knee you’re worried about it’s shaking your tail feather?” Rolling her eyes Soliel nodded. The two ordered burgers and talked in the quiet corner as their friends danced, romanced and drank around them. It was like they were the only two in the room. They talked about the kids, the bodyguards and the sewing. “Are you really here to create costumes?” Jason asked. “No, we’re quilting. The sorority adopts a cause each year then teams of quilters get together to make items to be auctioned off to raise money. Catherine and Brock returned to the table. “The quilt So-so designed last year earned the most money in the country. $16,000.00.” Soliel blushed. “To be honest, I designed it specifically for one celebrity who I knew couldn’t resist the colors and pattern. Plus, he had deep pockets. This year’s design is a companion piece and he’s already set aside $20K for it he told me. He said he would double it if I didn’t auction it off. I told him he had to be the highest bidder because I played fair.” Everyone at the table laughed. Daniela started showing pictures on her phone of quilts from the past. The other women followed suit. 

Sonny was more impressed with the trucks the quilts were draped over than the covers. Muttering that where Brock could hear, Brock responded. “Those trucks are part of Soliel’s collection.” Sonny wondered how a retired military woman could afford a collection of trucks. Brock leaned in and said, “She rebuilt them herself.” Sonny looked the woman over. He just couldn’t put it together. She looked too soft and she was a quilter. There was no way she could be a grease monkey. Jason asked about the project truck she was working on when he was there. “I finished it.” She responded. Her friends were off pulling up her website and sharing their screen with the guy next to each of them. Jason looked at the brilliant blue Ford. He agreed with his friends, the truck was good looking. The picture of Soliel standing on the running boards in her pin up girl outfit was hot, and he leaned in to tell her so. “Just how easy was it to put on those cut offs?” he asked. Biting her lip and looking through her lashes she smiled. “It was much easier to take them off.” “So-so,” Sasha called to get her attention. “You brought that outfit for the photo shoot, right?” Pursing her lips and looking embarrassed Soliel nodded. The conversation turned to pin up shoots and body art. Soon the whole crew was comparing tattoos. Then pictures of hidden art were shared. When everyone but Jason and Soliel were gone she pulled up one final picture on her phone. “I am so glad the girls didn’t talk about this. The image was Soliel nude with scroll work all over her body. Jason swallowed hard looking at what was showing and what was not. “I don’t remember any evidence of that on you.” “It’s henna. An old friend was shooting a music video. This was his whole video him painting me and singing his love song. The song he wrote for his girlfriend, who designed the artwork, but refused to be in the video.” “A guy friend saw you like that and still had a girlfriend?” “We were high school sweethearts and when I graduated and went on to college, he still had a year to go. By the time we were about to reconnect, he went to California to become an actor and I buried my heartache in course work graduated early and joined the Army. I was home on medical leave when he did that. He thought it would be fun. It broke them up. I was pregnant in the video. He mistook that information to mean I was taken. We didn’t see each other again until I oversaw the USO tour he performed on. He asked about my children and husband. When he learned that my last husband had been killed in combat before the video shoot and my medical leave was because of a chance of miscarriage, he and I reconnected but when his tour was over, I still had obligations. We lost touch.” Jason couldn’t add anything to that, so he just took her face in his hands and kissed her. “Well, it looks like this place is closing.” Was her response to the kiss. There’s a…just down the road. You wanna?” She stumbled over her words. “Oh God yes.” Was all he said. 

She didn’t have a car, so she climbed in the truck with him. Two minutes down the road and 20 minutes after registering he was pulling her shirt off as the door closed. He watched her breasts swing free from the top which was also her bra. His hands dropped to the full mounds of flesh and didn’t leave. She managed to get them both out of their clothes as he handled her chest with reverence. Praising how gorgeous she was he pulled her down on top of him on the closest bed. He let go of one breast to pull her leg up to straddle him then moved to the other. She hissed in pain and he realized it was her bad knee he tried to roll them over. She shifted over him instead taking pressure off the knee. It brought her breasts within reach of his mouth. He bit and kissed, he sucked and nuzzled as she settled over his cock. Sliding slowly onto him she watched Jason’s lids lower and his body tensed until she was fully seated on him. “Slowly” he breathed as his hand abandoned her breasts and settled on her hips. She slid over him and rocked her hips very slowly. Jason worked hard to hold himself in check. As her legs moved the pressure on his cock changed. Each movement was delicious. Her breasts in his face, the thick thighs beside his, the heavy belly and extra flesh on her hips were so seductive. He found himself praying to make this last if humanly possible. “God what can I think of that will keep me from coming.” He gritted out between clenched teeth. Raking her teeth over his hairy jaw line she growled back, “you better think of nothing but me.” “from now until the end of time.” Was his response as he exploded beneath her. He felt her reaction to his orgasm with the hardest of her yet. He thought her whole body had imploded for exquisite moments. Breathing hard she held herself over him on shaking arms. He wrapped one strong arm around her back and thinking of her tender knee he rolled so he could cock that knee over his hip. 

They managed to stay intact in the movement. His length buried just far enough to stroke her g spot; the shaft high enough to graze her clit. Before he could lose his erection, he was surging with vigor again. Kissing and raking teeth over skin Jason managed slow slight strokes to drive her into screaming madness. He pulled her head to his chest so she would be muffled by his muscles. She managed to bite in her screaming and Jason was undone. Rolling again he had her beneath him. He pressed deep in her and let her voice her pleasure as loud and if she wanted. He held out until she was begging for the friction to be quenched. Jason poured into her as sweat poured from him. He collapsed onto her waiting for his breath to even out and his heartbeat to calm. She ran a dry cloth down the parts of his body she could reach. When they were both sobering from the heat, he rolled away from her and she climbed out of the bed to turn on the air conditioner for the room. He looked at the contours of her back. The dimples above her buttocks, the slight ripples of cellulite and Jason was smitten. Never had he ever thought a real woman would delight his soul like this woman did. His mind momentarily turned to Mandy then Natalie. Looking Soliel over as she padded back to the bed there was no comparison. All the curves and softness, he never knew he needed to be folded into a warm body like hers. Shadows in Jason’s heart started to recede. 

He stood and pulled the top sheet blanket and bedspread off the bed. He took Soliel’s hands and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning into her naked body standing there in front of the mirror. Jason saw himself smile. A big smile. He swallowed the laugh bubbling up in his throat. “Can I ask you something?” he managed to choke out as he sat on the bed and settled her in his lap. “Is there a way you can come see me more often? I mean. Would you mind being in an exclusive relationship with me? Even though I’m gone 10 months out of the year, and you live 1700 miles from where I’m stationed.” “I’ve lived it before. I managed to have 3 kids and a successful career that way. But Jason,” she stopped, and he pulled her chin up so she would look him in the eye. “I’m moving to Norfolk.” The breath he had been holding rushed out in a whoop of happiness.


	7. Another Brick in the Wall

Bravo Team was spun up the week Soliel moved. She found a place down the street from her friends. Her younger sons chose to stay in Oklahoma with their complement of guards and the rest of the family. She was sad to have a large house with empty rooms. She spent most of her time in the new offices of the counseling services though. Since they specialized in TBI and PTSD she had plenty of military patients. Each day she would rush home just before bedtime to talk to Jason. They talked nearly every night for 2 weeks before there was silence. Assuming things were getting bad in his deployment she took the lack of messages in stride. She went back to writing emails. A daily breezy message would go out into the ether. They never arrived in Jason’s in box. 

Jason assumed Soliel was just extra busy. Their last conversation said she was working on setting up a sanctioned homeless encampment on an abandoned farm. Knowing that rural areas had dead spots he didn’t think twice about not reaching her via phone, and text. Things were getting squirrely in his part of the world, so he let Bravo One compartmentalize and prioritize. After 3 weeks he received a flurry of messages from her and his heart sank. The breezy messages included a guy’s name regularly. Things didn’t make sense to Jason. Where did this man come in. Was he a partner in her efforts or a neighbor? Jason had to let it go, focus on the mission. His heart hardened and the shadows darkened under his eyes. He started hearing those voices again. 

Soliel started getting very stilted replies to her daily emails one month after the video black out. Her texts, and phone calls went unanswered. She tried to reach out to Brock, and the other team members but never got a response. She asked for help from her sisters and her new gal pals, but they had no answers. Mandy told her, “Lisa says your name is banned from conversation. Jason has gone on emotional lock down.” It didn’t make sense to her either she reassured the newest member of their tribe. Soliel did her best understand. Her emails became rambling and begging which never got answered. 16 weeks into working with the homeless she met a young woman that gave her the chills. The transition from one sex to another was at that awkward stage for this gal. It was obvious that the medications had not made much of a difference yet. The young woman didn’t like Soliel that was obvious as well. 

One day Soliel got a collection of screen shots of sexting messages from Jason to a woman he called Desire. It turned her stomach and broke her heart. Jason got the same messages altered to look like they were going from Soliel to a man named Chris. Pictures from the team’s family came through showing Soliel and the man, a well-known actor in private settings. At home Soliel felt like she was caught in a nightmare. The press hounded her about Chris. No one believed her that the relationship they were asking about ended 10 years before. Chris being on location and under a communications black out couldn’t help. Women came out of the woodwork to proclaim they had been Chris’ latest conquest or were being digitally courted by the actor. Each new story made Soliel’s life so much worse. Being less than 6 months past chemo and still dealing with the related health issues, Soliel took to her bed. 

She called in another cousin from Oklahoma to take over for her. She refused to talk on the phone, she wouldn’t even talk to her sons. They were terribly upset about her new dating choices and berated her when ever they could. Hiding in her room she designed a very dark and moody freeform quilt to fit her pain. She pulled out her old marquetry and pyrography equipment and started building wooden quilt block filled with sadness and loss. Each new block went on the wall around the fireplace which could be seen from the front windows. Within another 8 weeks the darkness Soliel never ever let in before was reflected in that wall and the décor in the front room. Life went on around her, but a permanent cloud settled over her home. Each day the messages came in through her phone and computer. Jason didn’t want to see her again. He was ashamed of her past, her current actions, and everything else about her. In his mind, she had abandoned her kids for a mission that she failed to execute. More accidental sexting messages found their way to her. 

In the basement of the homeless center on the SunRise farm, they sought revenge. Each new message sent to Jason produced the desired orgasm. Watching the hidden cameras in Soliel’s house created the desire to push things further. “Tomorrow, I will feel her as she cries and trembles in fear.” A detailed timeline and multiple lists went into a leather binder. Written in a made-up language the trans-person appeared to be trying to organize thoughts, feelings and goals. No one knew those were a plot for revenge against the very symbol of everything their family held dear, “The Tip of the Spear” had scarred them over and over. She supported those people who allowed it to happen. Soliel would pay and Jason would be their instrument of destruction. They had waited years for it to happen. They had tried with her ex -husband but things went awry. This was their last chance before the final stages took them into their new life. Once again, the hated penis grew and begged for release. With speech to text they created the accidental message to send to Jason. Chris saying, he “wanted to do nothing but fuck his SunRise for the rest of his life.” As they hit enter sending the message, they felt the explosion build at the base of their spine and shoot through the air like the message in the ether. 

When the team came back to their command center Jason checked his phone. Another sexting message. This one was different; it came through like Chris sent it. Chris should not have my number. When they got back to Virginia Jason was going to get some answers and change his phone number. Jason sat on his bunk watching the clock. Shaking all over, he grabbed his towel and weight-lifting gloves. He made his way to the makeshift gym as quietly as possible because his team was already settling down to sleep. Brock followed him while Cerberus whined in his kennel. All phones suddenly went off all over the building. One more mission tonight. Brock heard Jason’s footsteps behind him getting back to their gear. Bravo One said, “Ignore and Override” over and over in Jason’s head. 

Soliel was watching the news for company in the darkness of her workroom. She had the lights off so she couldn’t see the blues, blacks, dark greens and browns in the forest on her worktable. The last piece she had placed on the table was a shadow figure in a hazy purple with deep red running down the body. She had taken the painting dye she used for batiks to watercolor the shadows and streaks of the fabric before using red straight from the bottle to run down the body. On another table was the cut-out figure of a pistol from a western print. She would applique the gun to the quilt once the body was in place. Her last effort was to cut out the body from the fabric. Getting the hand exactly right was hard but eventually an X-acto knife and the light box gave her the shape she needed. This one would be sent to her contact in Dubai. She had a long list of collectors of dark works. Soliel’s attention was riveted to the news. A bombing of an embassy in a sandy nation. Soliel knew Brock was somewhere close after his mom called her. If Brock was there so was Jason. 


	8. It Went To Your Head

Their airplane landed at the base on the 235th day of deployment. Mandy, the sorority girls and other women were waiting at the bar for their men to pick them up. Soliel was the taxi bringing her friends to the bar. Mandy was her last delivery. “Soliel, I talked to Lisa yesterday. She said someone named Chris texted Jason about 16 weeks ago.” “Oh God not him too. My boys are getting emails and texts from Chris but he isn’t really sending them. He’s busy filming. His director, producers and cast mates have all verified that these messages are not coming from him. I don’t know what is going on.” Soliel started crying. Mandy promised to help her find out what was going on. Soliel returned to her dark home. She climbed into bed with all her clothes on and cried. When her phone rang, the caller i.d. said the farm. 

“Hello?” 

“Are you ready for me bitch?”

“Who is this?”

“I wield the Tip of the Spear”

“What are you talking about?”

“Think about it.” 

“I don’t have to think about nothing. I don’t know what you have against me, my family or even my friends but you’re one sick bastard.”

The Radio company song Soliel loved “Off My Mind” played in the background as the caller laughed. Soliel had started a program on her computer while talking to the person. In one screen she pulled up the video camera over the phone at the farm the other triggered a trace she had used in Oklahoma to track her boys. The cameras showed no one on the phones at the farm. The trace couldn’t locate the caller in the area. She copied the information she did get and emailed it to Mandy with a plea for help. 

They watched her on her computer. It was a good thing they were taught by her sons how to circumvent that tracing program. Poor Soliel. They were going to make her pay. They called Jason, and hung up. They called again and again. When Jason’s phone went straight to voicemail, they started sending text messages. When Jason looked at the most recent text it was a picture. A photo shopped picture of Soliel laying in a quilted landscape. There was a gun near her and blood spreading from beneath her head. Mandy saw him go pale. She grabbed Sonny, and Brock. “Jason what was it?” He tried to put his phone away and signal for a drink but Sonny grabbed it. Brock took it from Sonny and using Jason’s face unlocked the phone. He pulled up the last text and paled himself. “I got to go” was all he said as he headed to the parking lot. Clay, Trent and Sonny were on his heals. Mandy kept Jason in place with Blanchard’s help. She passed the phone to Lisa started making phone calls. One by one the friends Soliel had made within Bravo Team’s orbit saw the picture. Catherine, the oldest of Soliel’s friends said, “this is the quilt she is working on for Prince Hamdan. I was with her when she bought the fabric.” Mandy called Brock and relayed the message. “She wouldn’t show that to anyone. It’s still in pieces. Whomever got this was in her house. From the angle they had to be standing on her work bench to take the picture.” “Or they have cameras in her house?” Jason asked. Jason flipped back through pictures. “This is her house right?” He asked Catherine. She nodded yes before adding, “But that’s not a recent picture of Chris, he has shorter hair now and no facial hair.” “You’re sure?” Jason asked. Lisa was on the phone with someone else. “Van is pulling up now. They already have the feed from Soliel’s house. They have scrambled it so the watcher knows the cameras have been discovered. They also have wireless audio coming from the house. The connection from that has been severed as well. Tactical Team is ready to breach.” “Not without me!” Jason yelled from the door. Lisa, Mandy and Blanchard all told their respective calls to hold, to wait for Bravo One to arrive and take control. 

Brock had a hard time waiting for Jason to arrive. He watched the captured video from Soliel’s house broke his heart, the audio was worse. He could see his cousin laying in her bed crying. Another feed showed her worktable where there was indeed a quilt with a shadow image bleeding and a straight pin held a tiny piece of fabric in place. Jason pulled up outside the cul-de-sac grabbed his gear and strapped into things before running down the sidewalk. “Just like Yemen” He said to his friends. Brock stepped up to the front door and turned the key he had. They cleared the door for explosives before entering the home on quiet feet. Jason made the quiet signal for everyone that followed him in. He called “Soliel, honey, are you okay?” “Don’t come in here, there’s a bomb on my bed.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has been ready for about 4 days but I couldn't get it copied over. Sorry.


	9. I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

The group exited the home except Jason. He sat down on the floor just inside the hallway entrance. It was the only place he could be to make eye contact with Soliel. “Babe,” Jason said. “If you wanted me back, you didn’t have to go to these extremes.” Soliel didn’t laugh. “Jason, I don’t know what to say.” “Don’t say anything right now, save your energy. Can you tell me what the bomb looks like?” “It’s a long piece of clear pvc with caps on both ends. There are wires coming out of one end. There’s a timer that says 00:35:47, that’s minutes and seconds. I have watched it count down for the last four and a half hours. It’s glued to my quilt and my sheet. There’s a liquid vial on top of it that looks like an old mercury switch. The note taped to my ceiling says if I get out of the bed, I’ll trip the liquid switch.” “Anything else?” “It has an L E D message that says, ‘you should have been nicer to me on the phone.’ I think he armed it when I pissed him off earlier. I threw my phone in anger then heard beeping like my microwave was done from under my quilt. Jason, I’m so scared.” “You said clear pvc, what’s inside?” “Nails, screws and something like broken mirror around a long gray hotdog.” 

The counter was down to 9:56 when the bomb squad dropped a safety blanket over Jason. They did the same to Soliel, before looking over the device. They decided to freeze the liquid before cutting the wires to the timer but first they were going to trade weight for Soliel. Holding the mercury switch in cold tongs. One member pulled Soliel from the bed while another placed a bucket of weight on the bed to replace her. When Soliel hit the floor, Jason pulled her between a set of legs and under the blanket covering him. He backed out of the hall on his butt with her in his arms. Other members of the bomb squad pulled them from the house before they heard the explosion. Panic was in everyone’s eyes as they looked at the house. Smoke and dust came from the doorway and around the back of the house. The workers that had remained in the house came out covered in little pieces of fabric and wood as well as mirror, screws and nails. Soliel broke down again seeing the parts of her bed and quilt dropping off her saviors. Jason held her, rocked her and soothed her hair. She cried and refused to talk to anyone. 

Jason talked to the police sent them the photos he had received. When Mandy arrived, she sent the police the copies of the texts and pictures being sent to Soliel. She explained things from her point of view. “Soliel had trouble in Oklahoma. She left there 8 weeks ago and within 3 weeks of moving she was getting messages that upset her, you will see them. From that point on she has had phone calls, text messages, and emails from this person. I know they are the same person because, a lot of the phrases are not word combinations that Jason uses. They sound more like Brock. Oklahoma/Texas talk. Soliel let me clone her phone. I’ve been seeing and hearing everything she has. The person that called was not nice. We have a copy of the phone call.” Jason heard the call and shivered. 

Mandy, working her contacts in the group surrounding the house asked for pictures of all the bystanders and people involved. She knew this was beyond her allowed actions on US soil but she couldn’t help it. She looked around at her friends, her family and Jason. He had Soliel in his arms. They looked good together. Mandy leaned against the bomb squad van and waited for more information to come in. She should be heartbroken. Instead she was happy. She watched Brock, Clay, Sonny, and Trent circle Jason handing him things, supporting him all the way and knew he would be okay. Lisa and her new man found her there. They led Mandy away. Lisa whispered, “It gets easier.” “I love her too.” Was Mandy’s answer. The Spear Wielder was in the crowd. He followed Mandy and Lisa as they settled into a waiting position on the outskirts of the action. 

In the next 4 days, Bravo Team banded together to clean up Soliel’s home when it was cleared as a crime scene. They took her things, swept them for bugs then relocated them to another house on the other side of town. The men took turns staying the night at her place while they worked day to day to prepare for their next mission. They drilled the same way in her home and Soliel was too shell shocked to care. In her offices at the V.A. she was moved to a new office with no windows and she had guards with her there and on her way home. Her stalker dropped off the map as far as anyone could tell. One day there was only one guard then after another week there were no guards. Bravo Team was spun up again for the mission they had trained so hard for. Jason was torn about leaving. Once again, he found outbound Naval personnel to stay with Soliel. She was back to healing others as she regained her life. 

The day that Bravo Team returned from their mission, Soliel was missing. She never arrived at her office, she hadn’t checked in with her sons or her friends. Brock was concerned because the group of guards she had watching her house were also gone. Brock told Jason he was heading down to the farm to see if they needed anything and ask after Soliel. He wasn’t getting any answer when he called down there. Jason offered to ride along. The rest of Bravo Team, Lisa, Blanchard and Mandy all went along. The caravan of personal vehicles found the gate to the farm closed and chained. Leaving the cars that couldn’t make it down the dirt back road into the farm they took personal weapons and protection with them in the trucks. Brock led the way down to the rutted road. He talked through his plan with Jason, Lisa, Mandy and Blanchard. They would stop at the fence of the huts and tents then move through there looking for information. When the group stopped at the fence, they found the huts and tent area burned to the ground. There were burned bodies all over. “We’re going to need some local help here.”


End file.
